Brant's July 2018 Playlist

Summers are made for lawn parties with your crew, and good music!

Well, our country may be pretty divided but at least people are coming together for good music.  I noticed a lot of this month's selections were duets!  Maybe my subconscious was drawn to collaborations in hopes that our country would follow suit.  But enough discourse.  Let's get into this month's music!  To listen on Spotify, click HERE.

1.  Tired of Being Happy (Ashley McBryde) - Imagine Miranda Lambert with a dash of Tanya Tucker thrown in!  This troublemaking bar jam is my new fave song for the summer!

2.  Feel Like a Fool (Kali Uchis) - I had one of her songs on May's playlist, but my friend Anthony convinced me to give the entire album a spin - and I'll be forever grateful.  I'm totally digging the old school girl-group vibe she's giving me on this tune.  It sounds like a long lost Marvelettes song.

3.  Grease (Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White) - Duet #1.  Speaking of old school, this delicious remake of the theme song from the classic movie "Grease" was too good to let slip by!  Grease IS the word.

4.  Crosseyed and Painless (Angelique Kidjo) - The Talking Heads 1980 album "Remain In Light" was chock full of Nigerian influences and African polyrhythms, so how cool to see African superstar Angelique Kidjo redo the entire album, track by track!  Impossible to sit still and listen as she revels in this cultural synergy.

5.  Summer (the Carters) - Duet #2.  Bey and Jay surprised everyone when they dropped this collaboration last month!  Most of it veers towards hip hop and rap, but I found myself gravitating to this easy-going album opening number.

6.  Done for Me (Charlie Puth with Kehlani) - Duet #3.  No sophomore slump here for this young American artist.  This is the 3rd single from his latest album, a mid-tempo duet with neo soul singer Kehlani.

7.  Silver Tongue (Nikka Costa) - I stumbled across this while looking for the new Neko Case album (see #13), and was flabbergasted to see that this was a tune she co-wrote with Prince back in the early 2000s.  You can hear Prince's version here, but Nikka finally recorded her version with piano and strings accompaniment.  Gorgeous loungy vibes perfect to wind down your night.

8.  Disco Yes (Tom Misch feat. Poppy Ajudha) - Duet #4.  From the lounge to the disco!  Groovy late night beats with jazzy vocals.

9.  Girlfriend (Christine and the Queens with Dâm-Funk) - French singer is back with a chill new song, which you can enjoy in French or English.  This is the English version, obvs!

10.  If You Wanna Love Somebody (Tom Odell) - More excellent emotive power pop from British singer-songwriter!   

11.  Bad Dreams (Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson) - Duet #5.  Power duo reunite for the first time since 2009 to cover Echo Friendly's "Worried".

12.  Kindness of Strangers (Courtney Marie Andrews) - I would've sworn this was Emmylou Harris the first time I heard it!!!  How have I never heard of CMA before?  This is from her 6th album, released earlier this Spring.

13.  Sleep All Summer (Neko Case and Eric Bachmann) - Duet #6.  Two Indie Rock icons join forces for this wistful summer ballad, a remake of the song from Bachmann's band Crooked Fingers.

14.  Beibi (Fundacion Tony Manero) - They had me at Tony Manero (John Travolta's character in "Saturday Night Fever"), but I also was digging the seductive Latin bedroom vibes in this selection. 

15.  Bedroom Calling Pt. 2 (Chromeo feat. The-Dream) - Did somebody say bedroom???  Chromeo is back with more danceable funk!

16.  Naive (Solange with Beyonce) - Duet #7.  Sisters team up for the duet you always wanted and weren't quite sure if it had ever happened.  Out of print today, but it was a bonus track on Solange's first album "Solo Star" back in 2002.  I also feel like credit should be given to Da Brat for her super tight rap!  I'll take her over ANOTHER Nicki Minaj guest rap any day.  Not on Spotify, but you can hear it HERE.

17.  Eve of Destruction (Paul Revere and the Raiders) - I usually do a patriotic song for the July playlist, but with everything going on in our government (Supreme Court, immigration, race relations) - this was the best I could muster.  We survived the turmoil of the 1960s (when this song was written) so maybe the USA will survive today.  There are several versions of this tune out there, but I found myself loving the horns in this rendition.

18.  Spells (Jenny Hval) - Okay, I admit #17 was kind of a downer.  In the interest of closing on a hopeful note, I added this ethereal, trippy jam!

So that's this month's playlist.  Hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day, and I'll see you next month!